Day No. 185 - Healthy Eating Day?

For some, the focus today is on healthy eating, as March 7 has been Healthy Eating Day since 1998. Nutrition is known to be one of the most important factors for people's health. The most common diseases are caused by the wrong food and too little exercise. - Today's day of action is intended to show people which measures have a positive effect on health. - We find it exciting that this requires a day of action. - It's like Christmas, most people think about weight gain and dieting after the holidays. - You should be aware that you don't get fat between Christmas and New Year, but rather between New Year and Christmas. - In this sense, it probably makes more sense to think about the whole year rather than on a specific day. - Then the sins of the individual days would not carry so much weight. 

However, I realize how little this happens not only when I go shopping on a regular basis, but also when I go hamster shopping. - Are healthy foods such as ginger, egg whites, oatmeal, nuts, linseed etc. in short supply? Are rice, flour and pasta in short supply? - The latter are precisely the foods that contain the least essential building blocks such as essential amino acids, unsaturated fats and vital nutrients. - Oat flakes, on the other hand, contain valuable nutrients, lots of protein and fiber. They therefore support our intestines and therefore also our immune system. Unground linseed is usually small in size but big in effect. In particular, it contains the anti-inflammatory Omega 3 and is also relevant for cell and brain function. High-quality protein or protein powder strengthens the immune system and contains all the relevant amino acids. 

And as for the usual shopping, imagine a full supermarket. - I know that's difficult for some people at the moment. And now cut out all convenience food, all dishes with sugar and, even worse, all dishes with sugar substitutes. Not so much left, is there? - If you want to get really desperate, cut out everything in plastic packaging and Nestle products. - If you want to do it really badly, eliminate all foods that are not sustainable or depend on pollination by endangered bees. - You no longer need a shopping list for what's left. - You can certainly remember the two or three items. - Smartass and irony mode off! 

Had enough of corona, hamster purchases and healthy eating? - Us too! - Thank God Sunday, March 8, 2020 stands for more spirit. - Or was that fuel? - Either way, the ancestor of our Hector, the VW T1, is celebrating its seventieth birthday. The first Volkswagen T1 rolled off the production line at the VW plant in Wolfsburg 70 years ago.

Is there another vehicle that stands for freedom, adventure and wanderlust in this form? - Simply "Get in and drive off." - Where the journey takes you is irrelevant - we are needed everywhere. 

Is the time of vacationing in Italy with the VW Bulli over, or is it just coming back? - This tour is definitely in the road book for us. And here on Ibiza it becomes clear that the time of the hippies with their Bullis is not yet over. - Today, it's hard to imagine that VW didn't like the fact that their Bulli suddenly took on the image of the flower power hippie car. On the contrary, VW stood for VW reliability and seriousness. - But the WAGENVOLK won out in the end. - Congratulations. 

Torgit: Today we're going to the flea market in San Jordi again. We liked it last week and as I've just torn a pair of jeans, I'm hoping to find a replacement there. Yes, life in a van only means shopping when something needs replacing. As our journey progresses, I realize that some things are simply not suitable for our current life on the road. For example, my €300 jeans are simply not made for sitting on the rocks by the sea. Now, after six months, the bottom is simply worn through.

Marc:* - Just when she's getting beautiful, Torgit is looking for a replacement. 😉

Torgit: The drummers welcome us to the flea market again today. They spread a really good mood. There aren't quite as many stalls here as last week, perhaps last night's wind has put some of them off. In addition to jewelry, incense sticks and raffia bags, there is fashion, shoes and wooden Buddhas. Africans offer the obligatory leather goods. And of course, as at any flea market, there are also things on offer that the household simply has left over. In the middle of it all is a mobile home with a petition to save the oceans. Marc got stuck at a stall selling necklaces. A Greek man makes wooden necklaces in or on Kalypso during the summer, which he sells here on Ibiza during the winter. The story sells well and money and chains change hands. - Marc simply loves and appreciates good sellers. - He finds it difficult to buy something from a bad seller, even if he wants the item. - I am also lucky and find a jeans stall. There are "Diesel" jeans here for €10. The seller speaks German. I like a pair of dark green corduroy trousers with a flare, the right size is also included. But as we all know, they don't always come in the same size. The salesman shows me how to determine the right size using a cubit or neck circumference. And lo and behold, he's right, the trousers really do fit. Who would ask questions about their origin or authenticity? The deal is perfect. We've both got what we wanted and we can carry on strolling.

Continue to the colorful hippie market Las Dalias. This has existed since 1954 and is therefore the icon of the hippy markets on Ibiza. We stroll along the many stalls. There are all kinds of handmade things here. Marc stops at a jewelry stall right at the beginning. But this is no ordinary jewelry stall. Here, rings are made to order and made to measure. The really special thing about it is that these rings are made from coins. You choose your favorite coin from a large mountain and a very personal ring is then made by hand in half an hour.

We continue to drift through the market: There are original clothes made from colorful fabrics, hand-sewn leather items, hats, scarves, jewelry made from silver or with stones, shoes and, of course, the obligatory colorful raffia bags. Dream catchers flutter in the wind above everything. There are kitchen accessories made from various types of wood such as olive wood or Savina wood, a type of juniper. This is the hardest wood here and is under special protection. All the goods on offer are in typical Ibizan bohemian style. We also like a stand with book safes, which we find quite cheap at € 15. I like a dream catcher in the shape of a whale. But does it really fit in the van? In addition to the stalls, there are also a few visitors who are nice to look at, hippies. On the way back, we pass the coin ring stall again and Marc can't resist, but more on that later.

As we drive on, we see a beautiful little church on the side of the road and stop. It is the Esglesia de Sant Carles de Peralta. This place was the center of hippie culture on the island in the 1960s. Marc had breakfast in the Bar Anita opposite the church many years ago. The church is very beautiful inside. Who could resist the young man asking for a small donation?

After leaving the church, we think about where we would like to enjoy the sunset and where we would like to camp for the night. - We spontaneously think of the cliff where we filmed Ilona and Gironimo's video. It's only a few meters away.

As we drive over the cliff, we see a van parked in "our" little niche in the pine forest. It has a Dutch license plate and shortly afterwards we are greeted by a smiling young Dutch woman. Ashley, her name, seems so relaxed that we decide to park our Hector next to her. We quickly strike up a conversation. She is traveling with her dog Pinda - Ashley has only just arrived on Ibiza, but knows the island from a previous tour. - Her van is a self-built T5 van. It seems to have been prepared with a lot of love. She tells us that this is one of her absolute favorite places. I tell her that we shot a video here the previous week.

When I show her the video a few minutes later, she laughs and says, oh, that's Ilona and Gironimo. - As it turns out, the three of them not only know each other from Ibiza, but also met in Portugal. It also turns out that we know them and their dog from stories. I always find it fascinating how small the world becomes on the street.

A little later, as Torgit and I sit on our chairs on the cliff, enjoying the last rays of sunshine and looking out to sea, I glance at my hand from time to time. It is now one piece of jewelry richer. I treated myself to a ring at the market today. As we approached the stand of ring maker Joyet Ria, I immediately felt that this ring was mine. Joyet makes his rings from an old silver coin. I decide on a ring from a Peace Dollar from 1922. This American silver coin, which was minted between the two world wars, shows Lady Liberty on one side, with a tiara in her hair, which merges with the rays of a rising sun.

The image is complemented by the words "In God we trust" and the year of minting. - The other side of the coin features the heraldic animal of the United States, the bald eagle, sitting on a mountain peak and holding an olive branch. The word "Peace" is engraved on the rock. The words "United States of America" and "E Pluribus Unum" are arranged one below the other. - The ring is forged in such a way that the engraving on the side of the ring is retained, as are large parts of the embossing on the inside and outside of the ring. My ring now bears the Liberty embossing on the outside, including the lettering. On the inside of the ring, you can still see the United States embossed on America, as well as the head of the eagle. I wouldn't describe myself as an America fan, but I have always particularly liked this Peace coin. That's because it contains three values in its minting that I can identify with. Liberty - freedom, "In God we trust" trust in God. And also the bald eagle, for me a symbol of strength, independence and freedom.

I thank God for what Torgit and I have, not only during our visit to the chapel today, but also otherwise. Some things may be coincidence, some things may happen because they are due. - But some things are certainly just luck. - Luck does not always have to do with merit. And for all this luck, for the good moments in my life, I am grateful to God. You don't always need a church for that. I think I can also feel God when I sit on this cliff and listen to the surf, as I do here and now. And that too is freedom, to be able to express such feelings. Thank you, I'll spare you and myself the amen.

PS: Finally, a small addition to my statement above and to my question as to whether there is a vehicle other than the Bulli that stands for the concepts of freedom, adventure and wanderlust in this form. - As we drive past Ducks United - 39°02'35.4″N 1°29'29.9″E - on our way to the hippy market, I have to think about it, because for me, the Duck, Mini and Land Rover also stand for freedom, adventure and perhaps even a bit of wanderlust. But none of the vehicles represent all three concepts in my view. And although I like all three very much, it has to be made clear that they don't have a bed, a kitchen or even a fridge to keep a beer cold.